Soyuz ST-A launches with Sentinel-1B at fourth attempt | NASASpaceFlight.com Soyuz ST-A launches with Sentinel-1B at fourth attempt April 25, 2016 by William Graham Russia’s Soyuz ST-A rocket has launched with the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1B spacecraft and four small satellites, following three delays – two relating to unacceptable weather for both Friday and Saturday’s attempts and then a technical scrub on Sunday. In what was the rocket’s first launch of the year from its South American launch site, liftoff occurred at 18:02:13 local time (21:02 UTC) on Monday. Soyuz ST-A Launch: Soyuz operates from the Centre Spatial Guyanais, in Kourou, French Guiana as part of a trio of rockets operated by Arianespace – alongside the smaller Vega and the larger Ariane 5. The three rockets are used for commercial launches and in support of missions for the European Space Agency (ESA) and the governments and national space agencies of several European countries.

The primary payload of the launch is ESA’s Sentinel-1B, a radar imaging satellite which forms part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), or Copernicus, programme. A partnership between ESA and the European Commission, Copernicus will use a fleet of satellites to study Earth and its environment. The spacecraft also have applications for aiding in the enforcement of civil security within European countries. Sentinel is the space segment of Copernicus, consisting of six different types of satellite to study different aspects of the planet. Sentinel-1 satellites carry radar imaging payloads, Sentinel-2 spacecraft are used for optical imaging, Sentinel-3 vehicles perform an oceanography mission, Sentinel-4 will study Earth’s atmospheric composition from geostationary orbit while Sentinel-5 will carry out the same mission in low Earth orbit. Sentinel-6, which is a successor to the Franco-American Jason spacecraft, will carry radar altimeters to measure variations in the height of sea surfaces. Sentinel 1, 2, 3 and 6 are free-flying satellites, while Sentinel-4 and 5 will be payloads hosted aboard the next-generation Meteosat and METOP spacecraft respectively.

At present, one satellite each of the Sentinel-1, 2 and 3 series are in orbit, with the remaining series due for introduction in the early 2020s. An interim satellite, Sentinel-5 Precursor (Sentinel-5P) will be launched later this year to restore ESA’s ability to monitor atmospheric composition in the troposphere, which was lost after Envisat ceased operating in 2012. Sentinel-1A was the first member of the constellation to be launched, riding a Soyuz to orbit in March 2014. It was joined by Sentinel-2A, which launched aboard a Vega in June 2015 and Sentinel-3A which was launched by a Rokot from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome this February. Sentinel-1B is a 2,164 kilogram (4,771 lb) satellite which was constructed by Thales Alenia Space. Based around the Piattaforma Italiana Multi-Applicativa (PRISMA) satellite bus, the spacecraft is designed for a seven-year mission in sun-synchronous low Earth orbit although it carries sufficient propellant and resources to operate for up to twelve years.

The satellite is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar operating in the C-band, which can image with a resolution of up to five by five metres (16 by 16 feet). In addition to Sentinel-1B, this launch carries four secondary payloads. The first of these, Microsatellite à Traînée Compensée pour l’Observation du Principe d’Equivalence (Microscope), is a 303-kilogram (668 lb) microsatellite designed to demonstrate physics’ weak equivalence principle which holds that the inertial and gravitational masses of a body will be proportional, and therefore all bodies will experience the same gravitational acceleration in the same gravitational field. This is a key concept to Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Microscope was built and will be operated by the French national space agency, CNES. It is based on the agency’s Myriade small satellite bus. Two test masses are contained within the satellite; one made of a platinum alloy and the other of titanium. These will be maintained in separate test cells and accelerated such to keep them motionless relative to the satellite. The expected result is that the spacecraft will apply the same acceleration to each mass.

The remaining three payloads are single-unit CubeSats, which are being carried as part of the European Space Agency’s “Fly Your Satellite!” mission. AAUSAT-4 is a technology demonstration mission for Aalborg University in Denmark. Equipped with Automated Identification System (AIS) receiver, its mission follows that of the AAUSAT-3 and AAUSAT-5 satellites, launched by a PSLV in 2013 and deployed from the International Space Station last year respectively. The Polytechnic University of Turin’s e-st@r 2 satellite is a replacement for the e-st@r satellite that was launched in February 2012 as part of the Vega rocket’s maiden flight. Uncontrolled tumbling of the original satellite prevented it from completing its mission, which was to have demonstrated a system to detect and control the spacecraft’s attitude. The reflight is expected to fulfil this objective. Orbital Utility for Telecommunications and Technology Innovations 1 (OUFTI-1) is a demonstration and amateur radio satellite which will demonstrate the use of the D-STAR amateur radio protocol in orbit. The launch made use of a Soyuz-STA rocket with a Fregat-M upper stage.

A variant of the Soyuz-2-1a optimised for launches from French Guiana, the Soyuz-STA is a three-stage vehicle under the Russian schema which classifies its strap-on boosters as the first stage. The fourth stage, Fregat-M, will take over after the third stage separates, injecting the spacecraft into precise target orbits. Soyuz is one of the oldest series of rockets still flying; having made its maiden flight in November 1966. The current-generation version, Soyuz-2, made its first suborbital test flight in November 2004 ahead of its first orbital mission in October 2006. The Soyuz-2-1a or Soyuz-STA is a modernisation of the previous-generation Soyuz-U. The Soyuz-2-1b or STB introduces an upgraded and re-engined third stage to increase the rocket’s performance and the Soyuz-2-1v is a smaller version omitting the first stage of the Soyuz-2-1b to cater for lighter payloads. Only the STA and STB versions fly from Kourou.

The launch site at Kourou was constructed by French space agency CNES in the mid-1960s to replace its previous launch site at Hammaguir, Algeria, following Algeria gaining its independence from France. French Guiana is an overseas territory of France, with an equatorial location making it suitable for launching to geosynchronous orbit. The first launch from the facility was made by a Veronique sounding rocket in April 1968, with the first orbital launch occurring in March 1970 via a Diamant-B rocket. Kourou was selected as the equatorial launch site for the European Launcher Development Organisation’s (ELDO) Europa rocket, which made a single flight from a newly-built pad at the site in November 1971. This would be the Europa’s final flight, with the rocket failing to achieve orbit for the fourth time in as many attempts. The program was subsequently abandoned, however its launch pad would be re-used for the next attempt at a pan-European space launch project, the Ariane 1. This first flew in December 1979.

The Ariane 1 launch pad, Ensemble de Lancement Ariane 1 (ELA-1) was subsequently used by Ariane 2 and 3 rockets, remaining in use until July 1989. More recently it was rebuilt for the solid-fuelled Vega rocket, returning to service as the Ensemble de Lancement Vega (ELV) or Zone de Lancement Vega (ZLV) with the type’s first flight in February 2012. See Also Click here to Join L2 A second pad, ELA-2, was built for the Ariane 4 and also used by a small number of Ariane 2 and 3 vehicles. This pad was in service between 1986 and 2004. A third pad, ELA-3, has been used by the larger Ariane 5 since 1996. The Soyuz pad, Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz (ELS), is located about ten kilometres (6 miles) to the Northwest of the other launch pads.

This launch was the fourteenth launch from ELS; the first of which came in October 2011 when a Soyuz-STB deployed a pair of Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) spacecraft. Arianespace designated this launch as VS14. Sentinel-1B arrived at the launch site on 8 March, and was joined by Microscope two days later, with the CubeSats arriving on 25 March. The CubeSats and Microscope were installed respectively upon the rocket’s auxiliary payload adaptor on 5 and 6 April, with this being mounted atop the Fregat on 13 April. A day later, the Sentinel satellite was attached to this stack, with encapsulation in the payload fairing occurring the day after this. On 19 April the rocket and the integrated stack of Fregat, payload and fairing, or “Upper Composite”, were transported to the launch pad and the Upper Composite was mounted atop the Soyuz. Final countdown operations for the launch began five hours before launch, with a meeting to authorise fuelling of the rocket. Fuelling commenced thirty minutes later, continuing until about 95 minutes before the scheduled liftoff.

The launch pad’s mobile gantry was moved away from the rocket 70 minutes before launch. The terminal count began at the five minute, ten second mark, with a key being turned to enable the final stage of the countdown to begin. At five minutes before launch the Fregat switched to internal power. Umbilicals connecting the upper composite to the launch pad disconnected two minutes and 25 seconds before launch. The mast upon which these are mounted retracted about a minute and fifty seconds later, followed by a lower umbilical mast which retracted upon ignition of the first stage. Soyuz transfered to internal power at the forty second mark in the countdown. Soyuz has one of the longest times of any rocket between ignition and liftoff, with the first and second stages igniting together seventeen seconds before launch, reaching full thrust in fourteen seconds. Once the countdown reached zero the four swing arms holding the rocket in place opened and Soyuz began its ascent to orbit. The first stage consists of four liquid boosters, each powered by an RD-107A engine, clustered around the core – or second stage – which has a single RD-108A engine.

The two types of engine, which are closely related, have four combustion chambers each and burn refined petroleum propellant oxidised by liquid oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide is used to power the rocket’s turbopumps. First stage flight lasted one minute and fifty-eight seconds, before the four boosters separated from the core vehicle – forming a pattern in the sky which has become known as the “Korolev Cross” after the rocket’s designer – Soviet engineer Sergei Korolev. Following first stage separation, the core or second stage continued to power Soyuz towards orbit. The payload fairing separated from the nose of the vehicle at three minutes and 29 seconds elapsed time, with the rocket clear of the dense lower regions of Earth’s atmosphere. Separation of the second stage occurred four minutes and 48 seconds after launch, with the third stage igniting shortly beforehand. Separation occurs with both stages burning. Powered by an RD-0110 engine, the third stage propelled the launch for four minutes and one second before it shut down and separated. Ignition of the Fregat occurred one minute after staging, beginning a ten-minute, fifteen-second burn to reach Sentinel-1B’s deployment orbit.

Separation of the Sentinel-1B satellite from the Fregat occurred three minutes and 21 seconds after the end of its first burn. At separation the spacecraft will be in a circular sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 686 kilometres (426 miles, 370 nautical miles) and an inclination of 98.18 degrees. The Fregat performed a second burn beginning 96 minutes and 30 seconds after the separation of Sentinel-1B. Lasting thirteen seconds, this burn reduced the perigee of the orbit to 453 kilometres (281 miles, 244 nautical miles) and the apogee to 665 kilometres (413 miles, 359 nautical miles). While the vehicle is in this orbit the CubeSats separated, 47 minutes and 53 seconds after the end of the second burn. The auxiliary payload adaptor separated forty seconds later leaving just Microscope attached to the Fregat. Three hours, 32 minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff – about three quarters of an hour after CubeSat separation, the Fregat began its third burn.

Lasting twelve seconds, this raised the vehicle’s orbit. A second short of twenty-five minutes later the stage fired again, this time for sixteen seconds, to circularise its orbit. Separation of the Microscope satellite occurred two minutes and fifty seconds after the end of the fourth burn, into a circular orbit at an altitude of 711 kilometres (442 miles, 384 nautical miles) and an inclination of 98.23 degrees. Fifteen minutes and three seconds after Microscope’s separation, the Fregat ignited for a fifth and final time to deorbit itself. The deorbit burn lasted twenty-nine seconds. Launch operations concluded ten seconds after the burn was completed. In addition to Kourou, Soyuz rockets also launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northwest Russia. Soyuz will also be able to fly from the new Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Southeast; the inaugural launch from that site will be made by a Soyuz-2 rocket and is expected to occur as early as next week.

Although this mission was marked as the first Soyuz launch of 2016 for Arianespace, it had already flown five missions from Baikonur and Plesetsk since the beginning of the year. These include the launches of a Glonass navigation satellite in February, the Resurs-P Earth observation spacecraft, the manned Soyuz TMA-20M mission, a Bars-M reconnaissance satellite and a Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station in March. The next Soyuz launch is currently expected to be that of the Mikhailo Lomonosov research satellite from Vostochny – a mission currently scheduled for Wednesday morning. Arianespace, which has conducted two missions so far in 2016 – both using its flagship Ariane 5 rocket – has scheduled its next launch for 24 May. Another Soyuz mission, this will orbit two Galileo navigation satellites. (Images via ESA, CNES and Arianespace).

BBC News - Europe's booming spaceport and its Amazon neighbours BBC News Printable version Europe's booming spaceport and its Amazon neighbours The European rocket launch site in French Guiana may have become the world's most important commercial satellite spaceport, but Sue Nelson finds that its boom is alienating the locals. No-one forgets their first rocket launch. Mine was an Ariane 4 in the Amazonian Basin. The rocket rose breathtakingly and unexpectedly slowly - and in complete silence. Sound is a tortoise compared to the speed of light and it takes time before a deep rumble accompanies the visuals. On my return to the Guiana Space Centre, the first immediate difference I notice is Cayenne's Rochambeau airport. In 1999 the terminal had recently opened and resembled an empty warehouse. Today you are greeted by the sight of rental car offices, a cafe with wireless internet and an area devoted to French Guiana's most important attraction: Kourou's spaceport. On the drive to Kourou, roads are lined with coconut palms and banana trees - very South American. But French Guiana is a French overseas territory and Nicholas Sarkozy is its head of state. When my French hire car requires petrol, I'll pay in euros.

And boy, do I need those euros. Because, unlike other parts of South America I've visited, French Guiana is expensive. Eye-wateringly so. Supermarkets may sell baguettes, pate, an extensive selection of wine and a French rolled wafer called cigarette, but everything is at a premium because it is imported from France. My hotel room costs 170 euros a night - nearly $250 - and its mediocre restaurant has London, or should that be Paris, prices. Ten years ago, hotels were the main places to eat. Today, a handful of independent restaurants cater for the growing number of visitors from the space industry. Kourou's spaceport now launches six out of 10 commercial satellites, and evidence of this is everywhere. Armed robbers Walls in restaurants like the Kong Long are decorated with satellite stickers from past launches - such as Superbird 7 and Inmarsat 3. I pop into the town's Deli France for a coffee and it, too, has stickers for Rosetta, Protostar and a Union Jack with the word "propulsion" on it. They are reminders of the international nature of space science.

The Deli France's managers are Chinese - one of the territory's many ethnic groups. Unfortunately, Chinese-run businesses are often targeted by armed robbers. The gunmen, I hear later from a former policeman, have links with the Columbian drugs trade. This rise in crime is a huge concern for locals, and after having a sawn off shotgun pointed at his face, the policeman finally decided to leave French Guiana. The hotel advises me not to go anywhere alone, but I brave the town centre on foot and also drive around, keen to see what has changed. Space theme Kourou appears to have doubled in size with new pastel-coloured, low-rise buildings, either on every street, or in the process of construction. "Every time I come here," said one scientist, "something else has been built." Roads are lined with billboards for companies and services, usually with a space theme: the French Space Agency, CNES; the satellite manufacturers EADS Astrium; a Planet Surf shop and one ad simply promoting the region's unique selling point: 100% Espace 100% Guiana.

The poor of Guiana live in shacks like the Cali slum in Cayenne Yet this high-tech industry is at odds with the town itself. Kourou may be one of French Guiana's fastest growing towns, but it is also one of its poorest. Unemployment is high and its beaches are stunning but empty. Silt from the Amazon turns the water brown, making tourism difficult. There also appears to be little interaction between the expats and French Guianians, an observation that makes me feel more and more uncomfortable. Russian rockets I ask a French engineer how he feels. "Proud," he says. "It's like Britain's relationship with India." One thing that hasn't changed is the weather - an average temperature of 28C and 90% humidity. Out of the protective comfort of air conditioning, it is like being smothered by a hot, wet flannel. Driving to and from the spaceport's press centre each day, just outside Kourou, I pass members of the French Foreign Legion protecting the site. Kourou has become the world's leading commercial satellite spaceport The Space Museum next door had nothing in it on my last visit.

This time, I spend an enjoyable hour swotting up on cryogenic main stage engines. Well, I am a science writer. The final launch of 2009 was also the final launch of the generic Ariane 5 rocket. From now on only the next generation Ariane 5s, the ECAs, will carry satellites into orbit. As will, for the first time in the spaceport's history, Russian Soyuz rockets. The first Soyuz launch is scheduled for later this year and a community of Russians has moved into French Guiana in preparation. A small part of South America, ruled by the French, is about to undergo yet another change. One can't help feeling that the locals don't get much say in the matter. How to listen to: From Our Own Correspondent Radio 4: Saturdays, 1130.

Second weekly edition on Thursdays, 1100 (some weeks only) Articles about French Guiana - latimes French singer, songwriter forged multifaceted career February 14, 2008 | Adam Bernstein, Washington Post Henri Salvador, one of France's most enduring and multi-talented entertainers, whose broad musical range included prewar chansons, whispery bossa nova, children's favorites and gimmicky rock 'n' roll tunes, died of an aneurysm Wednesday at his home in Paris. He was 90. During a 70-year career, Salvador attained popularity as a singer, songwriter, dancer, pantomime artist and television personality. Advertisement Kidnaped U.S. Pilot Freed in French Guiana November 9, 1987 | Associated Press An American pilot kidnaped by anti-government rebels while flying a plane for a California missionary group has been released in French Guiana, church officials said. Daniel Rodgers of Des Moines, Iowa, was kidnaped Oct. 30 along with four Surinamese from the village of Djoemoe, 150 miles south of Paramaribo.

Rodgers was flying the plane for the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, a group from Redlands, Calif. WORLD European Rocket Takes Off With 2 Satellites February 13, 2005 | From Times Wire Reports Europe's most powerful rocket soared safely into space with two satellites from its launchpad in Kourou, French Guiana, two years after its inaugural flight ended in disaster. A rocket launched Dec. 11, 2002, went out of control and was destroyed three minutes after it blasted off. NEWS Space Center Carved Out of the Amazon Jungle : French Guiana: Of Indians and Rockets August 24, 1986 | STEVE HOLLAND, United Press International It has clapboard houses and international hotels, crocodile hunting and fine French wines, barefoot Indians and space rockets, beachside baptisms and brand new BMWs. French Guiana mixes some of the most primitive cultures left in the world and some of the most sophisticated. The cultures meld on the Atlantic coast, where the capital, Cayenne, is located and at Kourou, home of the French National Center for Space Studies that launches Western Europe's Ariane rocket.

NEWS A Part of France but Worlds Apart January 12, 2003 | Ian James, Associated Press Writer The funeral begins with slow, synchronized clapping by the dead man's neighbors, seated in a circle beside a calabash tree. A village elder pours a libation of rum and says in his Nengee Tongo Creole: "Spirits, come and help us." Another elderly man adds, "Accept him in paradise." Across town from this village of descendants of escaped slaves, known as Maroons, whites from mainland France congregate at a cafe on Rue Victor Hugo, laying down euros for cafe au lait and baguettes. NEWS French Consider Haven for Suriname Refugees June 23, 1991 | Reuters France is ready to discuss giving a permanent home to Surinamese refugees fleeing internal strife into neighboring French Guiana, French Overseas Minister Louis Le Pensec said. NEWS The World November 10, 1987 An American pilot kidnaped by Suriname rebels while flying a plane for a California missionary group has been released in French Guiana, church officials said. Daniel Rodgers of Des Moines, Iowa, was kidnaped Oct.

30 along with four Surinamese from the village of Djoemoe, 150 miles south of the capital of Paramaribo. Rodgers was flying for the Mission Aviation Fellowship, a group from Redlands, Calif. WORLD European Rocket Takes Off With 2 Satellites February 13, 2005 | From Times Wire Reports Europe's most powerful rocket soared safely into space with two satellites from its launchpad in Kourou, French Guiana, two years after its inaugural flight ended in disaster. A rocket launched Dec. 11, 2002, went out of control and was destroyed three minutes after it blasted off. NEWS Notorious French Prison Turns Into a No-Man's Land December 15, 2002 | Ian James, Associated Press Writer Once there was no escape from Devil's Island. Now there is no access.

The irony may be unintended, but visitors to what used to be the world's most infamous prison are warded off by a sign saying: "Access to Devil's Island is strictly forbidden." Year after year, from the 19th century and well into the 20th, inmates dreamed in vain of leaving the tiny island of palm trees and jagged volcanic stone and returning home to France. NEWS A Part of France but Worlds Apart January 12, 2003 | Ian James, Associated Press Writer The funeral begins with slow, synchronized clapping by the dead man's neighbors, seated in a circle beside a calabash tree. A village elder pours a libation of rum and says in his Nengee Tongo Creole: "Spirits, come and help us." Another elderly man adds, "Accept him in paradise." Across town from this village of descendants of escaped slaves, known as Maroons, whites from mainland France congregate at a cafe on Rue Victor Hugo, laying down euros for cafe au lait and baguettes.

NEWS Notorious French Prison Turns Into a No-Man's Land December 15, 2002 | Ian James, Associated Press Writer Once there was no escape from Devil's Island. Now there is no access. The irony may be unintended, but visitors to what used to be the world's most infamous prison are warded off by a sign saying: "Access to Devil's Island is strictly forbidden." Year after year, from the 19th century and well into the 20th, inmates dreamed in vain of leaving the tiny island of palm trees and jagged volcanic stone and returning home to France. NEWS Black Candidate Chosen for Presidential Election December 3, 2001 | From Times Wire Reports French voters will have the choice of voting for a black president for the first time when elections are held next year. The Radical Left Party, or PRG, has chosen Christiane Taubira, a female politician from French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America, as its candidate for the 2002 elections. "The choice of the Radical Left Party is a bold and splendid move to rise above prejudice and bias," Taubira told French radio.

NEWS Cholera in French Guiana August 1, 1992 | Reuters Cholera has caused its first death in the French overseas territory of French Guiana, bordering Brazil, health officials said Friday. Twenty cases of the disease have been reported in the territory since December. NEWS French Consider Haven for Suriname Refugees June 23, 1991 | Reuters France is ready to discuss giving a permanent home to Surinamese refugees fleeing internal strife into neighboring French Guiana, French Overseas Minister Louis Le Pensec said. BUSINESS From Satellites to Subway Cars : U.S. Likes French Touch in High Tech August 15, 1989 | From Associated Press Mention France and Americans usually envision fine wines, stylish fashions and gourmet meals. But it's high technology, not haute cuisine, that dominates the French-American connection. In the United States, French industries are coming on strong, especially in aerospace, communications and transportation. Americans ride in French trains, airplanes and subway cars; launch their satellites with French rockets, and do a host of chores with French-inspired computer wizardry.

Ariane Rocket to Take Off Today With Satellites by Ford Aerospace May 26, 1989 | DAVID OLMOS Ford Aerospace Corp.'s newest commercial satellite, the Superbird, is scheduled to be placed into orbit for the first time today when two of them, configured as communications satellites, will be carried aloft aboard a European Ariane 4A rocket launched from French Guiana. Susan Pearce, spokeswoman for Newport Beach-based Ford Aerospace, said the satellites will be used by their Japanese owner for video distribution, satellite news gathering, private business networks and, in the future, possibly for high-definition television. NEWS The World October 28, 1988 Technicians in French Guiana made final preparation for the launch of an Ariane rocket carrying a television satellite that promises to revolutionize French broadcasting. Weather conditions were good at the European Space Agency launch site on the edge of the jungle on the northern coast of South America. Technicians received a green light for lift off, due by noon today.

Project MUSE - Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana (review) Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana (review) In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: The Americas 58.2 (2001) 340-341 [Access article in PDF] Book Review Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana. By Peter Redfield. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. pp. xxii, 345. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $55.00 cloth; $22.50 paper. "Does it really matter where things happen? Or more precisely, what might it reveal that different things happen in the same place?" (p. xiv). Space in the Tropics takes its reader on a series of journeys as it seeks to answer, or at least delineate a language for answering, such questions. As suggested by its title, this is a book about paradoxes and wonderment.

It is at once a history of French Guiana since colonial times--a county at "the margin of the margin" (p. 46)--and a meditation on what the "tropics" have meant in relationship to the metropolis over time. This small, "overseas department" of France has in fact served several distinctive purposes in the Western imaginary as well as French administration: first as the site for Daniel Defoe's classic tropical adventure, Robinson Crusoe (1719), later as the location for the infamous "Devil's Island" (where Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for over four years), and most recently as the launching pad for Europe's highly advanced Ariane satellite rocket system (spearheaded by France). Although Redfield is an anthropologist, this is more an ethnography of gesture, metaphor, and setting than it is of a people per se.

(You will find few "informants" in this book.) But if his approach is post-modern, Redfield emerges as a master storyteller all the same; he marvels at the palimpsest quality of French Guiana and delights in bringing to us through a variety of literary and methodological devices a closer understanding of the layering and disjuncture that defines modernity here at the margins. Redfield opens with a brief, self-reflective discussion of anthropology as a "tropical discipline" (p. 15) which defies rigid categorization, just like French Guiana. [End Page 340] This leads the way into an analysis of Robinson Crusoe, which Redfield views as a foundational text for later Western imaginings about the tropics. Defoe's tale, in fact, serves as a metaphor for Redfield's larger ponderings concerning the relationship between nature and technology, the local and the global, and of space itself. From here, the book advances chronologically and thematically into the modern period. Failing to transform the colony into a productive agricultural rival to British Guiana (Guyana) just to the north, colonial administrators chose the location to become France's answer to Australia.

Redfield's discussion of "the use of geography as punishment" (p. 91) and of the physical and metaphorical place which came to be known as "Devil's Island" is fascinating, if at times his literary flourish is excessive. ("The frame before us wavers slightly: unlike the clear view from the center, the edge remains dim; unlike the consistent blueprint of the Panopticon, the penal colony blurs within its own form" [p. 75].) In the third section of the book, Redfield takes us into the post-colonial (and post-prison) period when French Guiana--now a semi-autonomous, "overseas territory" of France--becomes the location for Europe's response to Cape Canaveral. Here, the central paradox of the tropics is revealed for it turns out that the ideal place to launch rockets into space is at the equator; French Guiana is perfectly poised. Redfield explores the rich ironies involved in the resultant uneven transformation experienced by French Guiana as the territory acquires new global significance.

In the end, the Guiana Space Center inhabits a neo-colonial space that is ultra-modern; for some, this means a new cosmopolitan sensibility rooted in access to consumer goods. Ultimately, French Guiana, like the rest of the "underdeveloped world," is imprisoned by metaphors of nature imposed from without over the course of its long colonial history. "'What do we get?' [one man] asked rhetorically. 'Color TV, but they still think we're savages'" (p. 236). This is a bold and stimulating book that covers enormous ground, and... Access options available: You have access to this content Free sample How to stop illegal miners? France to use troops - World news - World environment | NBC News + - CAMOPI, French Guiana — France will send 1,000 troops to rid French Guiana of illegal gold diggers, the president announced Monday, saying they were endangering both the environment and the food chain in the South American territory.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, visiting France's largest overseas territory, promised a "fight without mercy." Troops from mainland France and the Antilles will begin the "exceptional operation" next week and will stay as long as necessary, Sarkozy said. Sarkozy made the announcement from a Foreign Legion base in southern French Guiana which is pockmarked with hundreds of illegal gold-panning sites. Unauthorized panning, in which toxic mercury is used, endangers the environment and risks contaminating the food chain through fish. "It's not normal that you no longer see fish, and when you see them, they're dead," the French president said. "We must not be content with destroying the illegal sites, which start up a few weeks later. We have to durably destroy the networks feeding the sites and attack the commanders and those laundering the product of this illegal activity," Sarkozy said. Many of those looking for gold come from Brazil. Sarkozy is meeting on Tuesday with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Addressing the issue of illegal immigration, Sarkozy said border police would have an aircraft at their disposal to return illegal immigrants home.

Some 10,000 illegal migrants were returned home in 2007. Sarkozy, on his first trip to France's overseas departments and territories since his election in May, also visited the launch site for European Ariane rockets at Kourou. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Comes with the territory | The Independent Lifestyle Comes with the territory The map: From palm-fringed islands to Arctic wastelands, European countries still enjoy toeholds of sovereignty. Sean Johnson tours what's left of their imperial legacy Saturday 27 February 1999 00:02 BST Click to follow Great Britain The Cayman Islands 1 the British Virgin Islands 2 Anguilla 3 and Montserrat 4 The only remaining British territories to resist the postwar push for de-colonisation. Montserrat's status as a self-governing dependency was tested in 1997 when volcanic eruptions devastated the island. Troops and aid were quickly sent, but Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, wondered if the islanders, most of whom had lost everything, might be "wanting golden elephants next".

Bermuda 5 When Sir George Somers was shipwrecked in 1609, he unwittingly founded Britain's oldest colony. Government passed to the Crown in 1684. In 1995, a majority voted in favour of remaining a Dependent Territory. Turks and Caicos islands 6 After centuries under varied colonial ownership, these idyllic islands with a population of barely 14,000 now stand as a British Crown Colony under a Constitution of 1988. British Antarctic Territory 7 The South Shetland and South Orkney islands were claimed for Britain by explorers in the 19th century. They cover an area of nearly 2 million sq km and are home to 70 researchers. British Indian Ocean Territory 8 The archipelago's 60 sq km of land was ceded to Britain after the Napoleonic Wars. Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island with a 3,000-strong joint British- US Navy unit that restricts access to the territory.

Falkland Islands 9 The 200-odd islands in the South Atlantic were settled in 1766 by Captain McBride's crew for eight years before they were withdrawn for lack of money. Britain never relinquished sovereignty, holding the islands from 1833 until 1982, when the Argentine invasion prompted the dispatch of a Task Force to reclaim them. South Georgia 10 Captain Cook made the first landing in 1775 and claimed this mountainous island in the name of King George III. It is home to a small military detachment and research station. Gibraltar 11 Britain captured this two-and-a-quarter square miles of solid limestone from Spain in 1704. It was ceded to Britain in 1713, but the Spanish have been bent on recovering it ever since. A 1967 referendum voted 12,000 to 44 in favour of retaining ties with Britain. Pitcairn Islands 12 This small, inaccessible, volcanic Island was settled by Fletcher Christian and The Bounty mutineers in 1790.

Annexed in 1838, it remains Britain's last Dependent Territory in the Pacific. The 50 residents are governed by a 10-member island council. St Helena 13 This has the dependencies of Tristan da Cuhna 14 and Ascension island 15. A crown colony since 1834, the island is the only British Dependent Territory to receive budgetary aid. Holland Netherlands Antilles and Aruba 16 Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, St Martin, St Eustatius and the Saba islands 17, linked in 1954, are run by parliamentary democracy and linked to the Netherlands by a governor. Aruba left the Antilles group in 1986. France Guadeloupe 18, Martinique 19 and St Barts Continuously held since 1816, they have been Overseas Departments of France since1946. Their push for independence has been tempered by the financial aid they receive. French Guiana 20 Settled by the French since1604, it is the only European possession in South America.

This Overseas Department was used as a penal colony from 1852 until the Second World War and where the Ariane rockets are launched from. Reunion 21 This volcanic island, 800 kilometres east of Madagascar, has been in French hands almost continuously since 1638. Its 617,000 inhabitants are a mixture of Europeans, Africans and Asians. New Caledonia 22 This French Overseas Territory with a population of 196,000 is the world's third-biggest producer of nickel. Discovered by James Cook in 1774, it was settled by France as a penal colony a century later. French Polynesia 23 An Overseas Territory of four archipelagos and 200,000 inhabitants, it is the world's centre of pearl cultivation with more than 120 farms. Wallis and Futuna 24 French Protectorate since the mid-19th century and now an overseas territory that consists of just 255 coral-ringed islands.

The French Southern and Antarctic Territories 25 440,000 km sq of polar landscape discovered in the 18th century by French explorers. About 180 researchers currently brave this Overseas Territory where temperatures can fall to -40C. Saint Pierre and Miquelon 26 A small corner of France facing Canada, the surface area of this territory is only 242sq km and has a population of 6,000. Spain Melilla 27 This port was once a Roman coastal base, but fell into obscurity until it was taken by a raiding party in 1496. A Spanish territory ever since, it was used by Franco to launch his civil war forces in 1936. One- third of the 100,000 population is Muslim, but the enclave retains its Spanish feel, with a medieval Castillian-style town and 10,000 troops. Ceuta 28 Under Spanish control since 1580, Moroccan attempts to retrieve the enclave have become subdued because of Spain's importance as a trading partner.

Portugal Macao 29 The last outpost of European rule in Asia, Macao was given to Portugal by Chinese princes in 1557. It will be returned to Chinese rule in December this year. Denmark Greenland 30 and the Faroe islands 31 Denmark colonised the world's biggest island (2m sq km) more than 250 years ago. The population of 55,000 derives 95 per cent of its export earnings from shrimp-fishing and receives $400m a year from Denmark . Norway Svalbard 32 Discovered in 1596, this whaling centre became part of the Norway in 1925. Coal mining is the main industry of the islands. Jan Mayen 33 Dominated by an ice-covered volcanic cone and black lava cliffs, this was a no-man's land until it become Norwegian in 1929. During the Second World War, it was the only area of Norway not occupied by Germany. Peter Island, Queen Maud Land and Bouvet island 34 were annexed by Norway between the wars to prevent her whaling industry being shut out by other states.

Inhabited by researchers More about:

Question: In which overseas territory is the launch site for Ariane probes?
Answer: GUYANE